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Following an analysis of 38 previously published studies involving the dietary consumption of omega-3 fish oil and the incidence of cancer, Rand Corporation investigators falsely conclude that omega-3 fish oil pills are of useless value in preventing cancer, when no fish oil pills were used in any of the assessed studies.

dietary supplementation with omega-3 fatty acids is unlikely to reduce the risk of cancer.

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The flaw in the widely publicized Rand study, published in the January 25, 2006 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, apparently escaped scrutiny by peer reviewers at the journal. Bill Sardi, president of Knowledge of Health, Inc, San Dimas, CA, has asked journal editors to withdraw the study.

The stated claims of the study, to assess “omega-3 fatty acid-containing dietary supplements (that) have appeared on the market claiming to protect against the development of a variety of conditions including cancer” and the actual study itself, which analyzed “38 articles with a description of effects of consumption of omega-3 fatty acids on tumor incidence,” all which were dietary intake studies, mistakenly concluded that “dietary supplementation with omega-3 fatty acids is unlikely to reduce the risk of cancer.”

Commercially produced omega-3 fish oil supplements differ from fresh fish in that they do not contain detectable amounts of mercury. The mercury content of fresh fish is believed to negate some of the health benefits of omega-3 oils.

Mercury is known to stimulate the growth of cancer cells. For example, exposure to mercury from industrial pollution in Japan increased the risk for leukemia (cancer of the blood) by 8 times.

Furthermore, fish oil may not significantly reduce the risk for cancer, but may reduce cancer mortality rates. In one study, fish consumption only protected against later stages of cancer, not the initiation of cancer. Omega-3 oils appear to protect against metastasis (spread of cancer to other organs), which is the primary cause of death among cancer patients. It is widely known that most senior-aged males harbor cancer cells in their prostate glands, but an autopsy of 61 deceased male Eskimo (Inuit) men, who are known to consume high amounts of omega-3 fish oil, found only 1 case of the invasive mortal-type of prostate cancer.

Omega-3 oils are also known to prolong survival among individuals who have developed cancer. Omega-3 fish oils have also been shown to improve the efficacy of anti-cancer drugs.

Recently a remarkable report was published in the Journal of Nutrition & Cancer which cited the case of a 78-year old male with a malignant form of cancer (fibrous histiocytoma), with tumor masses in both lungs, who declined conventional chemotherapy and elected to solely consume omega-3 oils (15,000 milligrams/day) as treatment. A remarkably slow and steady decrease in the size and number of tumors was carefully documented by his doctors. The man experienced no side effects and remains symptom-free from cancer.